Revenge
by Abicion
Summary: I told you I liked Shanoa's Judgment design more than her Order of Ecclesia one.


Shanoa's eyes scanned the clouds of mist floating through the graveyard she stood in. Being surrounded by death reminded her of the recent passing of her dear friend Albus, who had become like an older brother to her in the short time her limited memory could recall. However, she quickly buried these thoughts and resolved herself to the battle she was currently in. Her quest to find a way to stop the resurrection of Dracula, the lord of all evil, had caused her to awaken a vampire seductress named Carmilla from a long slumber. The undead menace had used her dark power to disappear into the haze only seconds earlier.

Shanoa's opponent soon materialized out of the mist, just as she had done during her previous intermittent attacks. The demon took the form of a shapely, beautiful noblewoman in a long, silky red dress. Her long brown hair was tied in a braid behind her head, with only a few thin, wavy tendrils dangling in front of her ears. If it weren't for a pair of vampire fangs protruding from her ruby lips and an unearthly glow in her eyes, she easily could have been mistaken for a fair-skinned mortal woman. With an aggravated glare, this being raised one arm and pointed toward Shanoa, causing a screaming swarm of bats to descend from the lifeless trees of the graveyard and charge directly toward where Carmilla commanded.

Fully alert, Shanoa was able to dodge the brunt of the vicious mob with a nimble cartwheel. She then crossed her forearms into an "X" shape when she landed on her feet, using the Glyphs on her palms to generate a protective aura that repelled the remaining beasts.

When Carmilla faded from view once again, Shanoa's eyes returned to darting to every angle of the battlefield in search of their target. As she stood in an offensive stance, Shanoa failed to notice her evasive maneuver had planted her directly on top of a marked grave, and she gasped in shock when two bony hands shot up from the dirt to catch her. She soon began kicking at the ground with her small, high-heeled boots as the hands continued to claw at her ankles and rip away at the dark leggings of her dress.

Carmilla reappeared in front of Shanoa while the holy warrior was busy with one of her reanimated minions. She was obviously amused by her mortal opponent's predicament when she spoke.

"Silly girl. You should never forget a vampire has full control over her environment."

Shanoa looked toward the speaker and grit her teeth at this statement. She was quickly becoming fed up with this undead bimbo's mind games, and she now felt it was time for her to become the instructor. Using the magical power the Order of Ecclesia had trained her to use, she summoned a long, ceremonial blade in her right hand. She swung at her giggling opponent with all of her pent up rage, causing the woman to again disappear into the haunted air. Shanoa then used her new weapon to slice through the skeletal hands clinging to her legs, finally freeing her feet.

While Shanoa was busy with her current task, Carmilla quietly reappeared only inches behind her. The black-haired warrior struggled after a slender arm suddenly wrapped around her waist and a cold hand roughly held her sword arm in place, forcing the the blade to drop from her fingers and disappear on the ground. Carmilla's ample bosom pressed against Shanoa's back as the vampiress closely held her enemy, and the ageless beauty laughed softly into Shanoa's ear before speaking.

"Well, it's been fun..."

Her voice changed to a more sultry tone.

"...but now it's time for you to pay for your trespassing."

Shanoa only continued to fight against her entrapment in rage.

"Release me!"

Carmilla simply ignored her mortal adversary's demands and moved one of her hands to Shanoa's shoulder. She quickly brushed away her captive's veil-like headdress and tore an opening into the collar and shoulder of the Ecclesia uniform, exposing a generous portion of Shanoa's throat. Carmilla then tilted her head and plunged her glistening fangs into her enemy's neck to draw her lifeforce. The holy magic coursing through the rebellious girl's veins gave her blood a bitter taste, but Carmilla was smart enough to put her preferences on hold. This battle had taken a great deal of energy from her, and she needed to feed.

Carmilla's hand released its hold on Shanoa's arm as the weary vampiress continued to hungrily drain her captive's life away. As Shanoa was still held in place by her waist, Carmilla's empty hand was now free to travel downward, stopping only when her slender fingers lightly brushed the white fringe of Shanoa's miniskirt. Carmilla's hand then took a relatively more modest route over the dark blue fabric of the sorceress's short dress, and stopped to rest on the curve of Shanoa's hip.

Shanoa could only wince and softly grown in pain after becoming paralyzed by this ritual. Worse yet, just as her warm blood was now circulating through both women, she knew this intimate contact was transferring Carmilla's vampiric curse into her own body in return.

When she was full, Carmilla withdrew her fangs from Shanoa's neck. Her damp tongue glided over the two puncture marks she had left on the doomed girl's neck, cleaning up any excess mess and sealing the wounds. With her meal finished, she released her hold over Shanoa and allowed the dark-haired fighter to stagger forward with the same determination as before, albeit now in a much weaker form.

Shanoa continued to wince as she fought against exhaustion. She raised one hand to her shoulder to hold the torn collar of her dress together and conceal her bite marks. Her only option now was to escape from this place and obtain a cure for her newly acquired affliction. Her willpower would allow her to keep the curse at bay for some time, but she realized she the lacked the strength to continue her fight with Carmilla.

When Shanoa turned to dash in the opposite direction, Carmilla quickly blocked her retreat by again dissolving into mist and reappearing in front of her. The clever noble noticed a look of concern growing on her victim's face upon realizing she was trapped. Carmilla questioned the young woman in jest.

"What's wrong, Shanoa? Something seems to be bothering you."

Shanoa snarled as she continued to clutch the damaged fabric of her dress.

"Get out of my way! I need to get back to the village!"

"Aww, you're worried you're going to become like me."

Carmilla simply smiled at Shanoa's concern.

"Don't worry, little one. You've already been kissed."

The tip of Carmilla's tongue playfully rolled across the corner of her mouth to collect a few small droplets of Shanoa's nectar that had escaped her lips before she continued.

"The choice has already been made for you. The worst of it is over, as long as you don't try to fight the curse."

Shanoa growled in anger at these words.

"Are you serious? I'll never join you!"

The ancient vampiress was only amused by Shanoa's resolve.

"Mmm, so you're going to be a feisty one."

Carmilla elegantly stepped forward as she continued to speak.

"Let me let you in on a little secret that should make the process easier for you."

When she was close enough, Carmilla reached out with her pale arms and lightly placed her hands on Shanoa's shoulders. Shanoa was surprised to find herself frozen in place by this gesture. Even though most of her senses remained, the growing vampirism inside of her already gave Carmilla a certain amount of dominance over her.

The lady vampire leaned forward to whisper into her victim's ear.

"Dominus won't kill Dracula. It will revive him."

Shanoa's eyes widened with shock at this statement. She fought against a growing feeling of bewilderment before replying to the seductress's words.

"What... are you talking about... ?"

Carmilla only smiled and gently traced one of her hands down the bare portion of Shanoa's gloved arm as she continued to speak.

"I'm afraid it's true, sweetie. You see, that teacher of yours isn't quite who he says he is. He created your group to resurrect my dear Count Dracula, and only lied to the world to hide his true motives. He's been using you to gather Dominus for his own ends."

Shanoa lowered her head as she doubted herself.

"But... why would Barlowe... ?"

Carmilla now spoke out of pity for the sweet girl.

"You're only a tool to him, Shanoa. He figures that by sacrificing you, he'll be able to use Dominus to make Dracula into his slave."

The vampiress shook her head.

"Such a stupid man, thinking Lord Dracula should ever have to pay tribute to humans."

She now grinned and placed her opposite hand under Shanoa's chin to raise the troubled sorceress's head.

"But you can help us. You can use the gift I've given you to show that fool how you feel about him treating you like his plaything. Once Ecclesia is out of the way, our Lord will be able to awaken on his own terms, and together we can help him teach the world why he is not a force to be trifled with."

Carmilla finally pulled her arms away from Shanoa, ending the young woman's trance. With a new sense of loneliness, the raven-haired sorceress shook her head while slowly stepping backwards. Had she been of sounder mind, Shanoa likely would have pried deeper into this issue and spent more time weighing her options. However, her thoughts were clouded by the vampiric disease Carmilla's bite had infected her with, and her despair toward being betrayed by the only world she had left was amplified by her condition.

In the following moments, Shanoa simply gave in. She willingly invited the impurity in her body to overwhelm her mind and consume her very soul. Each of her Glyph tattoos began shining in a soft light, and her blue eyes turned glowing crimson as her canines extended into ivory fangs. A faint purple aura began pulsating from her entire body, and a scowl of contempt appeared on her face as she glanced toward Carmilla in her new form. She held her arms at her sides, now making no attempt to conceal the torn portion of her dress and the blackened bite wounds on her neck.

Carmilla delighted at this sight. Out of all the women she had sired in her immortal life, she found Shanoa to be one of her cutest products. She addressed her new minion in a warm tone.

"See? Was that so bad?"

Shanoa could only think of one thing to say. She questioned Carmilla coldly.

"Where is he?"

Carmilla teasingly stroked her chin in thought.

"Hmm? You mean Barlowe? I suppose he's still in that filthy chapel you last met him in."

The fallen enchantress quietly turned toward the direction of Ecclesia's base. She then used her now fully demonic power to cause a pair of large, bat-like wings to emerge from the open back of her dress. Just before she took flight and began her dreadful return to her former teacher, Carmilla spoke up and briefly interrupted her concentration.

"Oh, Shanoa, one more thing."

Shanoa quickly turned her ear toward Carmilla's voice, causing her headdress to flutter slightly in the cold air. She answered in a quiet but determined tone.

"Yes?"

"Bring me that old fool's head when you're done, will you, dearie?"

Despite her unfortunate state, this request brought a rare feeling of happiness to Shanoa's mind. For the first time since she could ever remember, she felt as if a close friend was depending on her for something. She felt a faint smile begin to grow on her face as she nodded slowly and answered the request in full devotion.

"As you wish, mistress."

A joyous smirk crossed the brown-haired vampiress's lips as she spoke.

"Splendid!"

Shanoa turned to face her destination again. With a forceful jump, she launched into the night sky on her leathery wings. She swiftly returned to the Order of Eclessia, and she soon carried out her brutal attack in the name of Count Dracula.

According to history, Eclessia failed in its mission when its heroine become tainted by the forces of darkness. Humanity would remain hopeless until the next Belmont appeared.


End file.
